It's more expensive than we'd like, but it's a big step forward for Motorola.

I'll admit that I didn't get the excitement about the Moto X when it launched. A so-called "Google phone" was something that people have speculated about since Google's purchase of Motorola closed last year. And yet, much of the breathless pre-release coverage (and several early reviews of the phone) seemed to treat the phone as special because Google was saying it was special, not because it was earth-shattering hardware in and of itself.

We're now about two weeks out from our first hands-on session with the phone. After living with it for a while, I get it—at least a little. There are still things about the phone that I don't understand, but I can see why people would walk into a store and walk out with the Moto X instead of a Galaxy S 4 or an HTC One or even an iPhone 5. It's the rare flagship Android handset that's greater than the sum of its specifications, even if in the end it's still just another Android phone with a couple useful extra features stacked on top.

But the Moto X doesn't need to melt anyone's face or sweep Samsung under the rug. The Moto X doesn't need to redefine the way we think about smartphones or show us Google's grand vision for Android's future. The Moto X just needs to reverse Motorola's decline, stop the bleeding, and show that Motorola and its parent company can put their heads together and put out a desirable smartphone.

Body and build quality

The short version: Finally, a flagship phone that feels great to hold. Where the Nexus 4, Galaxy S 4, HTC One, and others are all a little uncomfortable for one reason or another, the Moto X gives you a phone you can use one-handed, without ripping out all of the desirable features.

The long version: There are a few phones I've used—the HTC 8X, the BlackBerry Z10—that have earned my esteem specifically because they are really nice to hold. Both Windows Phone and BlackBerry 10 are still missing too many things for me to use either of those devices as a primary real-life handset for longer than a week or two (the amount of time I like to spend with review hardware, at a minimum), but in both cases I wished I could get phones exactly like them with stock Android installed instead. The Moto X comes very close to being that phone.

Enlarge/ The Moto X is much smaller (and more pleasant to hold) than the 5-inch Galaxy S 4 (underneath).

Andrew Cunningham

Enlarge/ It's more similar to, but still slightly smaller than, the HTC 8X, despite that phone's smaller 4.3-inch display.

Andrew Cunningham

Enlarge/ The Moto X is much thicker than something like the iPhone 5, though the curved back helps it to feel more comfortable.

Andrew Cunningham

The Moto X's 4.7-inch screen belies its size—the phone is actually very similar in width to the Z10 and the HTC 8X, even though those phones have smaller 4.2 and 4.3-inch displays. Compared to other Android phones with similar screens like the 4.65-inch display of the Galaxy Nexus, the 4.7-inch screens of last year's Droid Razr HD phones, or the 4.8-inch screen on the Galaxy S III, the Moto X is both narrower and shorter. It's still larger than an iPhone 5 by a fair margin, and it's thicker than some of its high-end Android competitors (0.41 inches at its thickest point, compared to 0.36 inches for the S 4 and 0.37 for the HTC One). Still, the phone's width and height combined with the curve of its non-removable back makes it one of the most comfortable-to-hold Android flagships you can buy right now.

Of the competing flagship phones, the One and its 4.7-inch 1080p display come the closest to matching the width of the Moto X (at 2.69 inches, compared to 2.57 inches), but the One's height and its top-mounted power button are less-than-friendly to one-handed users. Some Android phone screens are creeping up above six inches, and frankly it's nice to get something fast that doesn't include a warning about team lifting.

Enlarge/ The back of the phone is matte plastic, which isn't slippery like the glossy plastic used on Samsung's Galaxy S 4 or the glass used by the Nexus 4. User-selectable cases in multiple colors will be available from AT&T when the phone goes on sale. Wood options will also be available at some point after the phone launches later this month, because wood accents are timeless and will never go out of style.

Enlarge/ The SIM tray on the phone's left side isn't quite flush with the edge of the device.

Andrew Cunningham

Enlarge/ The headphone jack is mounted in the center on the top of the phone.

Andrew Cunningham

Enlarge/ The power button is mounted above the volume rocker on the phone's right edge, where they're both thumb-accessible.

The build quality of the phone's all-plastic body is decent but not exceptional. It feels sturdy in the hand and doesn't creak or flex like Samsung's phones can, but small imperfections keep it from playing in the same league as the HTC One or iPhone 5. The power and volume buttons feel just a bit too loose, the SIM card tray sticks out from the side of the phone just a bit too much, and the phone (at least in white, the color of our review unit) looks cheaper than it feels.

The difference between the Moto X and something like the HTC One is akin to the difference between the old white polycarbonate MacBook and the aluminum unibody MacBook Pros. Both feel like solid, well-made devices, but one is definitely made from superior materials.

The screen: Not all AMOLEDs are created equal

Enlarge/ While we think 1080p phone displays are lovely and all, there are definitely diminishing returns when you start going above 300 PPI. From left to right, the 1080p Galaxy S4, the 720p Nexus 4, and the 720p Moto X.

Andrew Cunningham

The short version: You'll notice the Moto X's AMOLED display before you'll notice its 720p resolution. At least it isn't PenTile.

The long version: That 4.7-inch screen has a resolution of 1280×720, a spec that was much more common in flagship phones a year ago. The screen has a still-respectable 313 PPI, which pales in comparison to the 469 PPI of the One or the 441 PPI of the Galaxy S 4 but is nevertheless crisp and readable. The difference between a 720p smartphone screen and a 1080p smartphone screen is not the legibility of tiny text, but the crispness of that tiny text. By the time letters are too small to discern on the 720p display, you're going to want to zoom in for a closer look anyway. We'll use some pictures from our look at HTC's Droid DNA, the first 1080p smartphone screen we encountered, to demonstrate.

Enlarge/ Small text is readable but slightly distorted on the Optimus G's 720p screen.

The display's quality is ultimately more germane to this discussion than its resolution. The Moto X uses an AMOLED display, which suffers and benefits from most of the same things that most other AMOLED displays suffer and benefit from. On the one hand, the screen offers deep blacks and vibrant colors; on the other, those colors are inaccurate and sometimes too harsh. Whites and grays often take on a greenish or purplish cast. Outdoor visibility also suffers, and the Moto X's display looks washed out, even in indirect sunlight.

Where the Moto X differs from phones like the Galaxy Nexus and Galaxy S III is that its AMOLED screen doesn't use the problematic PenTile subpixel arrangement. The negative effects of PenTile are more visible at lower resolutions (and are basically gone once you move to a 1080p display like the Galaxy S 4's), but even at 720p you may notice slightly jagged text and uneven-looking images (see below).

The non-PenTile screen on the Moto X enables crisper text and more even colors. Note particularly the flat, uninterrupted white of the Google Play icon that looks almost rough on the Galaxy S III's PenTile display. At 306 PPI, the S III's screen is pretty close to the Moto X's in density, but the subpixel arrangement makes for a screen that's a little harder on the eyes after an extended period.

As with the build quality, the Moto X's screen is a little deficient compared to phones from other companies at the same price point. Still, Motorola and Google have chosen a screen that is good enough that Joe Smartphone probably won't be bothered by it. I would like to see more AMOLED displays come with color profiles like those included on the TouchWiz versions of the Galaxy S 4—research has shown that using that phone's display in Samsung's Movie or Photo modes will take the edge off of AMOLED's harsh colors, eliminating one of my biggest gripes about the display tech. Neither stock Android nor the near-stock version of Android on the Moto X includes such profiles, a situation we'd like Google to rectify.

I had a pretty long email conversation with VZW reps about their "carefully tested" firmware that introduce issues not present on other carriers, and they never could actually manage to explain why everything they touch sucks so badly. I just got "Our technicians carefully test the firmware first." over and over.

In this particular review, It seems a lot of value is placed on one-handed use. Most people use a bumper or some sort of case to protect their phone. Do you think that point might still be relevant for them, or do you think it might end up being negated by putting protection on the thing?

My overall gripe with the device is that it isn't enough device for the money. If they want to create something a little lower than high end, I feel the off-contract price should reflect that.

To me, it's the absolutely a game-changer in the Android market. It's trying (mostly, stupid "8-core" rubbish aside) to shift the conversation from specs and speeds towards how good the phone is to look at, hold, and use.

The "active notifications" are strange. Am I right that this just shows an icon and if I want to see what the notification is about I still have to do something?

This isn't a notification, it's a teaser for a notification. In an email notification I want to see the sender and subject so I can decide at a glance if I need to read or answer it. I don't want to see an email icon I have drag to see if it's worth to react to (because this means I already have to react to it just to be able to decide if I have to react to it).

Anyway, seems like a not too bad phone altogether. I will never get why anyone would think a speaker belongs on the back of a phone though.

To me, it's the absolutely a game-changer in the Android market. It's trying (mostly, stupid "8-core" rubbish aside) to shift the conversation from specs and speeds towards how good the phone is to look at, hold, and use.

But unless it really holds up well to the drop test, for many users the "hold/size value" might not be all that great. Because a lot of people tend to drop their phones, sometimes from 4-5 feet, and want to know it's not going to be damaged.

Good article. The phone has some appeal although it's obviously a personal preference issue. I like the idea of striving for a good user experience (jeez I'm starting to hate that phrase) and not focusing on hardware. One benchmark is off though, relative to a stock Galaxy S4(set up with animations turned off in developer options and all the gee-whiz Samsung features unchecked)... it gets consistent score of 678.3 - give or take a point in Sunspider 1.0...not the 1226 indicated. Perhaps Chrome has been improved since your article was written. Was going to post a screenshot, but evidently it's not allowed.The article was well-done and a good read.Thanks!

To me, it's the absolutely a game-changer in the Android market. It's trying (mostly, stupid "8-core" rubbish aside) to shift the conversation from specs and speeds towards how good the phone is to look at, hold, and use.

Wouldn't it be much more of a game changer if it weren't about people settling for slightly lower specs (since there are a million phones out like that) and it were more about transparency in pricing?

One of the biggest issues I have with wireless today is that so many people feel they have to operate within the confines of a two-year contract. And two years is absurdly long for a phone contract. The off-contract price of the phone is very high, but the carrier doesn't pay as much. Then, they claim the subsidize the price and you only pay $200. Plus an activation fee. Plus extra money every month to reflect the subsidy.

Isn't pricing a high end phone within reach off-contract more of a game changer in the wireless industry?

The "active notifications" are strange. Am I right that this just shows an icon and if I want to see what the notification is about I still have to do something?

This isn't a notification, it's a teaser for a notification. In an email notification I want to see the sender and subject so I can decide at a glance if I need to read or answer it. I don't want to see an email icon I have drag to see if it's worth to react to (because this means I already have to react to it just to be able to decide if I have to react to it).

Anyway, seems like a not too bad phone altogether. I will never get why anyone would think a speaker belongs on the back of a phone though.

I think the active notification is meant to fill the role that's currently being filled in many devices by the notification light. It lets you see what app is giving you the notification without the need to memorize a code book of light colors and blink patterns. I think it makes sense because it gives you the maximum amount of information you'd be comfortable displaying to random co-workers while your phone is sitting on your desk.

The "active notifications" are strange. Am I right that this just shows an icon and if I want to see what the notification is about I still have to do something?

This isn't a notification, it's a teaser for a notification. In an email notification I want to see the sender and subject so I can decide at a glance if I need to read or answer it. I don't want to see an email icon I have drag to see if it's worth to react to (because this means I already have to react to it just to be able to decide if I have to react to it).

Anyway, seems like a not too bad phone altogether. I will never get why anyone would think a speaker belongs on the back of a phone though.

I think the active notification is meant to fill the role that's currently being filled in many devices by the notification light. It lets you see what app is giving you the notification without the need to memorize a code book of light colors and blink patterns. I think it makes sense because it gives you the maximum amount of information you'd be comfortable displaying to random co-workers while your phone is sitting on your desk.

Just colors. Blink patterns determine how long the notification has been waiting. So you set orange for voxer, blue for facebook, green for google voice, etc. It's not hard.

Frankly, I used to own a phone without a notification LED and had a program that did active notifications instead. It was called "noled". I much prefer the LED and it became a requirement of any phone i'd buy.

Thank you for trying to clarify the CPU thing, Everyone seems bent out of shape over the whole "X8" thing, but it's the S4 pro part that's actually the most misleading. Other than benchmarks there isn't a lot those extra 2 cores in the 600 are good for. The "last years spec" rant is getting old, since even the S4 Pro didn't come out until the end of the year.

To me, the only thing disappointing the camera, I was hoping it would be better. I don't want an LCD or 1080p, too many downsides. If the new Nexus has a 5.2" screen this will be my next phone.

To me, it's the absolutely a game-changer in the Android market. It's trying (mostly, stupid "8-core" rubbish aside) to shift the conversation from specs and speeds towards how good the phone is to look at, hold, and use.

Wouldn't it be much more of a game changer if it weren't about people settling for slightly lower specs (since there are a million phones out like that) and it were more about transparency in pricing?

One of the biggest issues I have with wireless today is that so many people feel they have to operate within the confines of a two-year contract. And two years is absurdly long for a phone contract. The off-contract price of the phone is very high, but the carrier doesn't pay as much. Then, they claim the subsidize the price and you only pay $200. Plus an activation fee. Plus extra money every month to reflect the subsidy.

Isn't pricing a high end phone within reach off-contract more of a game changer in the wireless industry?

I absolutely agree with you - that would be a truly important shift in the market. All I was trying (and quite possibly failing) to say was, isn't trying to change what the conversation's about with Android handsets pretty much the definition of at least attempting to "change the game"?

One thing that confuses me in the AMOLED comparison is that it says the phone in the middle is a nexus 4 (which has an IPS+ display, which seems much better than any of those AMOLED displays shown), but it's a galaxy nexus (which I have).

The "active notifications" are strange. Am I right that this just shows an icon and if I want to see what the notification is about I still have to do something?

This isn't a notification, it's a teaser for a notification. In an email notification I want to see the sender and subject so I can decide at a glance if I need to read or answer it. I don't want to see an email icon I have drag to see if it's worth to react to (because this means I already have to react to it just to be able to decide if I have to react to it).

Anyway, seems like a not too bad phone altogether. I will never get why anyone would think a speaker belongs on the back of a phone though.

I think the active notification is meant to fill the role that's currently being filled in many devices by the notification light. It lets you see what app is giving you the notification without the need to memorize a code book of light colors and blink patterns. I think it makes sense because it gives you the maximum amount of information you'd be comfortable displaying to random co-workers while your phone is sitting on your desk.

Just colors. Blink patterns determine how long the notification has been waiting. So you set orange for voxer, blue for facebook, green for google voice, etc. It's not hard.

Frankly, I used to own a phone without a notification LED and had a program that did active notifications instead. It was called "noled". I much prefer the LED and it became a requirement of any phone i'd buy.

I had to use both. After about 4 or 5 colors, the distinction between colors wasn't great enough for me.

I've like this system ever since owning the N9, which uses something similar (always on lockscreen with time and notification icons).

To me, it's the absolutely a game-changer in the Android market. It's trying (mostly, stupid "8-core" rubbish aside) to shift the conversation from specs and speeds towards how good the phone is to look at, hold, and use.

Wouldn't it be much more of a game changer if it weren't about people settling for slightly lower specs (since there are a million phones out like that) and it were more about transparency in pricing?

One of the biggest issues I have with wireless today is that so many people feel they have to operate within the confines of a two-year contract. And two years is absurdly long for a phone contract. The off-contract price of the phone is very high, but the carrier doesn't pay as much. Then, they claim the subsidize the price and you only pay $200. Plus an activation fee. Plus extra money every month to reflect the subsidy.

Isn't pricing a high end phone within reach off-contract more of a game changer in the wireless industry?

That was my biggest disappointment - the idea of a good phone with Nexus-like, off contract pricing. Instead Moto fell in line with all the other smartphone makers and became part of the carrier problem, and not part of the solution. Chalk it up to all of the pre-launch rumors which were out of Moto's control, I guess.

The "active notifications" are strange. Am I right that this just shows an icon and if I want to see what the notification is about I still have to do something?

This isn't a notification, it's a teaser for a notification. In an email notification I want to see the sender and subject so I can decide at a glance if I need to read or answer it. I don't want to see an email icon I have drag to see if it's worth to react to (because this means I already have to react to it just to be able to decide if I have to react to it).

Anyway, seems like a not too bad phone altogether. I will never get why anyone would think a speaker belongs on the back of a phone though.

It should be an option. But you definitely don't want it always showing who is sending what on the lock screen. There is a reason people lock their phones.

As to the phone I have no comments. US only phone is not very interesting for us living in the rest of the world. Not sure what it is with Motorola and limiting their phones to US only. Are americans easier to sell crap to or what?

The "active notifications" are strange. Am I right that this just shows an icon and if I want to see what the notification is about I still have to do something?

This isn't a notification, it's a teaser for a notification. In an email notification I want to see the sender and subject so I can decide at a glance if I need to read or answer it. I don't want to see an email icon I have drag to see if it's worth to react to (because this means I already have to react to it just to be able to decide if I have to react to it).

Anyway, seems like a not too bad phone altogether. I will never get why anyone would think a speaker belongs on the back of a phone though.

I think the active notification is meant to fill the role that's currently being filled in many devices by the notification light. It lets you see what app is giving you the notification without the need to memorize a code book of light colors and blink patterns. I think it makes sense because it gives you the maximum amount of information you'd be comfortable displaying to random co-workers while your phone is sitting on your desk.

This is a reason to make this configurable. Even my iPhone allows me to switch on notifications on the lockscreen -- if an email comes in the screen lights up, shows me sender and subject for a few seconds and goes off again. This way I can glance at it and immediately decide if I want to read it or answer it, and if not I just look away again without having to do anything.

Just an icon ("you've got mail, but I'm not telling you from whom and about what, drag me, drag me...") would drive me as crazy as a notification LED would.

The "active notifications" are strange. Am I right that this just shows an icon and if I want to see what the notification is about I still have to do something?

This isn't a notification, it's a teaser for a notification. In an email notification I want to see the sender and subject so I can decide at a glance if I need to read or answer it. I don't want to see an email icon I have drag to see if it's worth to react to (because this means I already have to react to it just to be able to decide if I have to react to it).

Anyway, seems like a not too bad phone altogether. I will never get why anyone would think a speaker belongs on the back of a phone though.

I think the active notification is meant to fill the role that's currently being filled in many devices by the notification light. It lets you see what app is giving you the notification without the need to memorize a code book of light colors and blink patterns. I think it makes sense because it gives you the maximum amount of information you'd be comfortable displaying to random co-workers while your phone is sitting on your desk.

This is a reason to make this configurable. Even my iPhone allows me to switch on notifications on the lockscreen -- if an email comes in the screen lights up, shows me sender and subject for a few seconds and goes off again. This way I can glance at it and immediately decide if I want to read it or answer it, and if not I just look away again without having to do anything.

Just an icon ("you've got mail, but I'm not telling you from whom and about what, drag me, drag me...") would drive me as crazy as a notification LED would.

The first time the notification bar is viewed (even without expanding it) it shows you what was said. And when you actually view the notification, it shows you the email and right from the notification you can reply or archive. It's really nice, and that's standard part of android.

Quote:

Are americans easier to sell crap to or what?

I would imagine it would be harder to sell crap to people if they had more carrier freedom. Carriers in the US do a good job of retaining customers with (slightly) discounted family plans which have a series of contracts tied to them (one for each user) and phone upgrades can be used from other lines in the plan, but they renew that line for a 2 year contract, etc.

And people really aren't getting such a good deal for their subsidy.

So at some point, people walk into a wireless store and more-or-less end up buying one of the phones presented to them, often without research. The average "informed" customer has been informed by commercials or friends' opinions. But those people rarely have an opinion or know what to expect about a recently-released device.

Are you guys going to do an extended review of the droid Maxx, ultra, and mini? I'd be interested to see how those compare to the Moto X. I'm not completely up on what all the differences in specs actually mean, but they seem very similar to me, except the Maxx has a much better battery life. Am I missing something else?

I'm in the market for a new phone, and battery life/durability is becoming much more important to me than top of the line processor. I heard the S4 had some battery issues after a month so sadly I had to strike it off my list of possible phones. I am constantly on my phone throughout the day and an outlet isn't always near by so I need something that can handle me emailing, texting, talking, reading pdfs, web browsing, and some very slight word processing all while being able to last till 6pm.

Just wanted to say that I like the "short version/long version" approach in this article (I think it's new, although perhaps I've overlooked it before...). There's lots to cover on smartphone reviews these days and being able to skim something I'm less interested in with a summary, but then read in depth on things I am interested in is quite useful (i.e. "oh ok, another mediocre camera... ooh, so that's how the x8 thing and active notifications work..")

The "active notifications" are strange. Am I right that this just shows an icon and if I want to see what the notification is about I still have to do something?

This isn't a notification, it's a teaser for a notification. In an email notification I want to see the sender and subject so I can decide at a glance if I need to read or answer it. I don't want to see an email icon I have drag to see if it's worth to react to (because this means I already have to react to it just to be able to decide if I have to react to it).

Anyway, seems like a not too bad phone altogether. I will never get why anyone would think a speaker belongs on the back of a phone though.

I think the active notification is meant to fill the role that's currently being filled in many devices by the notification light. It lets you see what app is giving you the notification without the need to memorize a code book of light colors and blink patterns. I think it makes sense because it gives you the maximum amount of information you'd be comfortable displaying to random co-workers while your phone is sitting on your desk.

Just colors. Blink patterns determine how long the notification has been waiting. So you set orange for voxer, blue for facebook, green for google voice, etc. It's not hard.

Frankly, I used to own a phone without a notification LED and had a program that did active notifications instead. It was called "noled". I much prefer the LED and it became a requirement of any phone i'd buy.

I think about 10% of people are color blind.. Your solution is totally useless to them..Just saying..

The "active notifications" are strange. Am I right that this just shows an icon and if I want to see what the notification is about I still have to do something?

This isn't a notification, it's a teaser for a notification. In an email notification I want to see the sender and subject so I can decide at a glance if I need to read or answer it. I don't want to see an email icon I have drag to see if it's worth to react to (because this means I already have to react to it just to be able to decide if I have to react to it).

Anyway, seems like a not too bad phone altogether. I will never get why anyone would think a speaker belongs on the back of a phone though.

I think the active notification is meant to fill the role that's currently being filled in many devices by the notification light. It lets you see what app is giving you the notification without the need to memorize a code book of light colors and blink patterns. I think it makes sense because it gives you the maximum amount of information you'd be comfortable displaying to random co-workers while your phone is sitting on your desk.

This is a reason to make this configurable. Even my iPhone allows me to switch on notifications on the lockscreen -- if an email comes in the screen lights up, shows me sender and subject for a few seconds and goes off again. This way I can glance at it and immediately decide if I want to read it or answer it, and if not I just look away again without having to do anything.

Just an icon ("you've got mail, but I'm not telling you from whom and about what, drag me, drag me...") would drive me as crazy as a notification LED would.

But the iOS goes the other way. You only have the choice of too much information or no information. I have to choose between having my boss read the text from my wife saying "So it's settled, you'll call in sick tomorrow and we'll go..." or not being notified at all.

Also, the point of a notification LED or this system is not to notify you once at the time of the notification. It's meant to periodically re-notify you under the assumption that you missed the initial notification. It's also typically expected that you be using it when your phone is sitting on your desk, or your coffee table or some other area where it's far enough away from you that tiny text on a screen wouldn't help you (on account of the distance).

That was my biggest disappointment - the idea of a good phone with Nexus-like, off contract pricing. Instead Moto fell in line with all the other smartphone makers and became part of the carrier problem, and not part of the solution. Chalk it up to all of the pre-launch rumors which were out of Moto's control, I guess.

They've still not announced the Play store price, only the AT&T "non-contract" price of $575. The non-contract price was substantially higher than the price to buy direct from the Play Store on various carriers around the world.

One thing that confuses me in the AMOLED comparison is that it says the phone in the middle is a nexus 4 (which has an IPS+ display, which seems much better than any of those AMOLED displays shown), but it's a galaxy nexus (which I have).

Yeah I wasn't trying to say the Nexus 4 has an AMOLED screen or anything. That was just the picture I took that had the most different types of screens in it. :-) More of a pixel density comparison.

But the iOS goes the other way. You only have the choice of too much information or no information. I have to choose between having my boss read the text from my wife saying "So it's settled, you'll call in sick tomorrow and we'll go..." or not being notified at all.

OK, never happened to me and if there was a chance it would happen I would be content with a notification sound instead.

Sitting there with my phone on the desk and glancing at something coming in (and not having to react immediately to most of it) happens a dozen times a day, so I know what's more important to me.

By the way, the standard notification bar in Android is suffering from the same problem. Only the first new mail (after visiting your inbox) shows the sender, and then you only get "2 new messages", "3 new messages" instead of showing me the damned sender and subject of the email that is coming in right now. So I need to act on it to find out if I have to act on it.

"While normally rare, achromatopsia is very common on the island of Pingelap, a part of the Pohnpei state, Federated States of Micronesia, where it is called maskun: about 10% of the population there has it"

So it's normally very rare to have no color distinction. For folks of European ancestry, the most likely form of colorblindness is red-green color blindness. About 4% of people of European ancestry have that, and they can distinguish many colors and shades.

So if you were going to guess how many people in the US couldn't use a notification LED and identify different colors on it, it would probably be safe to say, "less than 1%".

Besides, if it was really 10% of the population didn't have cones in their eyes you'd have tons of friends who couldn't distinguish color, and therefore could not drive, etc. It doesn't pass the smell test to say something like that.

I read Ars Technica - you can assume this is because I hate shallow tech coverage and love in depth reviews. You don't need to provide one sentence summaries of every section for me.

That's why the long sections are still there. :-) Honestly though they're for people who might be interested in a deeper dive on one aspect (the specs maybe) while just "getting the jist of it" is enough for another aspect (the camera maybe).

One thing that confuses me in the AMOLED comparison is that it says the phone in the middle is a nexus 4 (which has an IPS+ display, which seems much better than any of those AMOLED displays shown), but it's a galaxy nexus (which I have).

Yeah I wasn't trying to say the Nexus 4 has an AMOLED screen or anything. That was just the picture I took that had the most different types of screens in it. :-) More of a pixel density comparison.

Ah, I see and I see that it is the nexus 4. Thanks for the screen comparison, that's pretty nice to have.

Such a disappointing camera, though. I really enjoy taking photo-spheres on my gnex, and the nexus 4 has a pretty well improved camera for it. But if I'm going to upgrade from a phone runs android 4.3 really well, i need a solid reason to upgrade. And a really nice camera sensor / lens would do that.

Three things really irk me about this phone. First is price. I'd feel comfortable buying it IF the $200 were off contract. Contract pricing should be free just based on most of the phone's specs. And that brings me to point two, which is that awful, awful camera. I don't think I've ever found a Motorola Android phone with a good camera, or even a "good enough" camera. I'm not particular picky in this regard, either: my Droid DNA isn't a point-n-shoot replacement but even it manages to be "good enough". Come to think of it, that was the main point in the HTC's favor that swayed me away from the Moto Droid phones when I was in the market last year.

Speaking of the DNA, point three is the screen. I have a secret lust for AMOLED's deep blacks and really am excited by the non-Pentile screen on this Moto. But 720p? C'mon. I've got such bad eyesight that even with corrective lenses I can't see all that well, but the difference between my DNA's 1080p screen and the 720p screens is night and day difference. It amazes me that few others are wowed by the difference. Despite the tradeoff in GPU performance, app rendering issues and battery life, I don't think I can go back to anything less.

That leaves active notifications. As a member of the "constantly checking my phone" brigade, me want, me want bad.

I had a pretty long email conversation with VZW reps about their "carefully tested" firmware that introduce issues not present on other carriers, and they never could actually manage to explain why everything they touch sucks so badly. I just got "Our technicians carefully test the firmware first." over and over.

A phone made by google doesn't get google updates. Now that's what I call a "moto x is a big disappointment" thread!

A phone made by google doesn't get google updates. Now that's what I call a "moto x is a big disappointment" thread!

I totally agree, I was hoping they would get the same treatment as their nexus line, to eventually cut out their other nexus Partners and make Motorolla their manufacturer for all Nexus and Motorolla devices.

The "active notifications" are strange. Am I right that this just shows an icon and if I want to see what the notification is about I still have to do something?

This isn't a notification, it's a teaser for a notification. In an email notification I want to see the sender and subject so I can decide at a glance if I need to read or answer it. I don't want to see an email icon I have drag to see if it's worth to react to (because this means I already have to react to it just to be able to decide if I have to react to it).

Anyway, seems like a not too bad phone altogether. I will never get why anyone would think a speaker belongs on the back of a phone though.

I think the active notification is meant to fill the role that's currently being filled in many devices by the notification light. It lets you see what app is giving you the notification without the need to memorize a code book of light colors and blink patterns. I think it makes sense because it gives you the maximum amount of information you'd be comfortable displaying to random co-workers while your phone is sitting on your desk.

This is a reason to make this configurable. Even my iPhone allows me to switch on notifications on the lockscreen -- if an email comes in the screen lights up, shows me sender and subject for a few seconds and goes off again. This way I can glance at it and immediately decide if I want to read it or answer it, and if not I just look away again without having to do anything.

Just an icon ("you've got mail, but I'm not telling you from whom and about what, drag me, drag me...") would drive me as crazy as a notification LED would.

But the iOS goes the other way. You only have the choice of too much information or no information. I have to choose between having my boss read the text from my wife saying "So it's settled, you'll call in sick tomorrow and we'll go..." or not being notified at all.

Also, the point of a notification LED or this system is not to notify you once at the time of the notification. It's meant to periodically re-notify you under the assumption that you missed the initial notification. It's also typically expected that you be using it when your phone is sitting on your desk, or your coffee table or some other area where it's far enough away from you that tiny text on a screen wouldn't help you (on account of the distance).

You can configure the iPhone to not show any portion of the email text in the notification. Settings-> Notifications-> Email account-> Show preview on/off

But the iOS goes the other way. You only have the choice of too much information or no information. I have to choose between having my boss read the text from my wife saying "So it's settled, you'll call in sick tomorrow and we'll go..." or not being notified at all.

?For text messages and mail on iOS you can select if notices should contain a preview or not, and if notices should be shown on a locked screen. So you are perfectly free to configure e.g. so that text messages are shown on locked screen without preview, mail messages to work mail showing up on locked screen with preview, private mail not showing up on locked screen at all. There are further settings, like only showing notices from people in your address book etc; when it comes to notifications iOS somewhat unusually allows a lot of customisation, down to almost a ridiculous degree ;-)

Andrew Cunningham / Andrew has a B.A. in Classics from Kenyon College and has over five years of experience in IT. His work has appeared on Charge Shot!!! and AnandTech, and he records a weekly book podcast called Overdue.